Friday, April 24

It started in 1948 with a recipe for chili by retired farmhand Blackie Reese. The original 'Old Hired Hands' brand also sold coffee and stick candy, but I guess only the chili did well. This was then sold as Six Gun Chili and has been the recipient of multiple food awards. The mix is basically a thickener with a sachet of chilis "hot enough to drive[your] in-laws out."

It snowed last night across much of rural New England. Definitely a chili kind of day... Can't deny that packaging either...

Tuesday, April 14

"[Ben & Jerry's] Cherry Garcia ice cream was first released in 1987; however, it was first suggested over 3 years before by 2 self-proclaimed fans of Ben & Jerry's & the Grateful Dead, who thought we ought to make a flavour named Cherry Garcia, in honour of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia.

Their suggestion was written on a postcard with a Portland, Maine, postmark, but no name or return address... After making considerable efforts to search for & identify the DeadHead who wrote the postcard, we finally found Jane Williamson. To thank her & to officially recognise her as the original creator of the flavour name, we invited Jane to our 1987 Annual Stockholders' Meeting, where Ben & Jerry presented her (& a friend) with a giant Cherry Garcia pint lid, as well as a year's supply of ice cream." - UK B&J site I think...

Our southern VT town of Manchester had one of the first "scoop shops", and wearing tie dye was not unknown... The Dead were/are big in VT. Fun fact, you could buy "reject" pints from a special freezer for $2 I think?? These were ones that didn't pass QC in Waterbury. Too MUCH chocolate perhaps... or chunks of Heath Bar too BIG. Or maybe the wrong top was applied - said Cherry Garcia and was actually vanilla - nuts... Usually you scored though, bigtime. As the tourists lined up for their $3.50 cone (this was over 20 years ago...) you bought a crazy pint, split it (and the wimpy spoons trying to dig it out) and moved on.

Ben & Jerry's are now a client of the digital archive company for whom I work. Full circle. Could not be happier about it.

Friday, April 3

I interviewed illustrator Matt Sewell and dug into bird guides for Kaufmann Mercantile. Hope it interests.

Before now I had not heard of 19thC English poet John Clare. My loss, fantastic stuff. Clare was incredibly prolific, being said to write as he was walking even. His first published work Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery (1820) was a best seller.

As a side note, it’s always instructive to know which tools an artist uses; Matt draws in a Seawhites of Brighton hard A4 sketchpad. With a Pilot V7 black ink pen.

Wednesday, April 1

In 1971 Richard Scarry (children's author and illustrator of "What Do People Do All Day") pioneered the new advertising hook of "Miller Time". These ads focus on the
end of the work day and a celebratory beer for a job well done - through a sunset-soaked beer glass.

It's a world of flannels and trucker caps, down vests and denim shirts. Not cruises, ballgames or picnics. Wait, Circus Operators and Surfers too? Not many women in Miller Time though, unless as friendly barmaids or wives... If you've got the time, we've got the beer...

Read the below for a little background on how this marketing change happened.

During much of the 1950s and '60s, advertising agencies that handled beer accounts were saddled with a unique dilemma. The average beer drinker (the guy who was unflatteringly dubbed "Joe Six-Pack" by beer marketers), perceived little difference between one domestic brand of beer and another...

[In 1971] Tobacco giant Philip Morris had just acquired full ownership of Miller Brewing during the previous year. The company had big plans for Miller, hoping to apply the same advertising strategies to the beer industry that it had used to propel Marlboro cigarettes to the top position within the tobacco industry. (The company even test-marketed "Marlboro Beer" but ultimately shelved it.) [That is not an April Fools - ed.]

TV spots for Miller High Life bore a strikingly similar look and feel to Philip Morris' venerable Marlboro Man commercials. The new ads invariably depicted tough and rugged he-men drinking Miller Beer - not because they enjoyed its delicate balance of flavors, not because they fancied the easy-to-open bottle, but because they worked hard all day and, dammit, now it was Miller Time.
-via BeerHistory